Menu

Post navigation

Family and Politics

I did this thing. I came out to my parents… as a Bernie fan. Coming from the south I was raised in a conservative household, but I grew up in Austin so I had the opportunity to grow up in a mass of different political theories. My parents were also always very clear that I should think for myself. So when I told my mom that I felt “The Burn” she didn’t say, “maybe you should see someone about that.” She replied positively and said that it showed a lot of character. When I texted my dad (yes I texted shame on me). I simply said, “I don’t know if you know this but I am a fan of Bernie.” After what felt like an eternity, he texted me back saying, “No I did not know about that. What do you like about him?” Sensible good response and he gave me the opportunity to share why I liked this old man with fluffy – but not creepy – hair.

There were many reasons why it took this long to tell my parents that I like Senator Bernie Sanders.

One – I love them and I don’t like creating conflict or the opportunity for conflict if I don’t have too. But it’s family, you either yell at each other for thinking too similarly or too differently. Conflict is inevitable.

Two – I’m dating a Swede! I didn’t want them to think that I only like Bernie because I spend most of my time with someone who grew up in what is considered a socialist country. In all honesty, I might not have become as sympathetic to Bernie if I didn’t have someone to talk it through with. But that’s how it works whether I am with my conservative family or my labral friends. Sharing ideas is essential to the political process.

Three – I am in college. Being in college has its perks during a presidential election. You tend to get a lot of the information and you talk about it a lot. But as you know Bernie has been very popular with college students and I didn’t want my family to think, “Well she only likes Bernie because she is in college. She will grow out of it.” I admit this election leaves a lot to be desired but I kept myself informed I watch a lot of debated Republican and Democratic. Every time the Democratic ones were more civil and filled with better arguments. They weren’t perfect, but there were more ideas I could get behind then in the Republican debates. I read numerous articles and talked to lots of people with different ideas.

Unfortunately, the norm in America, and I suspect other countries “us” as kids tend to blindly follow out parent’s beliefs political or not. We use the same backs and incense companies always believing it’s the best. It must be. I remember seeing this in high school a lot and hating it. I wanted to be my own person, not a replica, and I wanted my parents to love me for that. Turns out they do, but something tells me I already knew that.